Relocation UK – Your Top Guide To Public Transport in London – Part 4: The Oyster Card and Travelcards

When you ask your London relocation agents for a list of things you need when you’re moving to London, a bank account and an Oyster Card are going to be right at the top! You can use your Oyster card to pay for tickets on all forms of public transport and you’ll save time and money by making sure that you always have the right amount of money for your ticket. Of course you can purchase a ticket using cash at any of the ticket booths in all stations but an Oyster Card gives you the freedom of the city by allowing you to travel where and when you want to.

The Difference Between Oyster Cards and Travelcards

A Travelcard can be loaded onto your Oyster Card, but an Oyster Card is completely separate from a Travelcard – No one ever said that your relocation to London was going to be simple! An Oyster Card is a plastic smart card that you can use to cover all of your travel requirements in London. You can load your bus tickets, Travelcards and train tickets onto your Oyster Card. To use your Oyster card you simply hold it over any of the yellow Oyster sensors when you are walking through a ticket barrier. You can also load money onto your Oyster card to pay for fares if you do not have a Travelcard loaded. It is a pay-as-you-go system that ensures that you are not caught up in any queues at the station, or have to carry cash to pay for tickets. A Travelcard is a way of paying for your tube tickets by Zone. If you need to travel from Zone 1 to Zone 6 every day, then you can get a Travelcard loaded with a discounted ticket for all travel in those Zones. Your Travelcard can be bought monthly, weekly or daily. You then load your Travelcard details onto your Oyster Card for convenience. Your relocation to London will only be considered a success if you can navigate from one side of the city to the other using and Oyster Card on a train, tube and bus without having a nervous breakdown! It can be done! You’ll soon be able to impress your overseas visitors with how easily you manage the public transport and you’ll wonder why you ever thought it was complicated.